


Ursa Not So Minor

by Nigaki



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chapter 1: Colter (Red Dead Redemption 2), Gen, John Marston Whump, Pet Grizzly Bear, Pre-Canon, Protective Arthur Morgan, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, actually it punches you in the face, blink an you miss it, but the intimacy can be read as brotherly, just FYI, morston feels, no kiss or anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nigaki/pseuds/Nigaki
Summary: A man and his bear.
Relationships: John Marston & Arthur Morgan, John Marston/Arthur Morgan
Comments: 9
Kudos: 50





	Ursa Not So Minor

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't yet seen my wife's [gorgeous art](https://whydoihavetotellmyname.tumblr.com/post/625465267540148224/he-somft-they-are-friends-now#notes), you’re missing a lot.
> 
> Arthur and John's relationship can be read as either platonic or romantic, the choice is yours.

Arthur gave that idiot two days to come back, it was still snowing after all.

He didn’t come back. 

He knew something went wrong, the bad feeling in his gut was telling him John was in trouble. That wasn’t anything new, the boy was always in trouble and over the years Arthur learned to tell when Little Johnny Marston was being stupid somewhere. Sometimes it was just small enough trouble he was able to get himself out of alone, sometimes he needed help. This time he definitely needed help, Arthur just knew it. He suspected something would happen from the beginning when Dutch sent a wounded man on a scouting mission. It was so cold it was doubtful John would bleed, he was patched up too but that didn’t mean it was safe to send him.

John wasn’t bad at scouting. He was great actually, he knew his way around no matter where he was. But with pain as a distraction, John was as helpless out there as a blind man. Maybe even more because no blind man would be stupid enough to agree to Dutch’s idea. They should’ve sent Bill instead of him. Or Javier. Or the Reverend, one problem less for them if that fool would lose himself in the storm.

Actually, no, they needed the Reverend. He was going to put Davey back on his legs.

Only Davey died, the Reverend was still a pain in the ass and John was still missing. Abigail was starting to panic and Arthur had to admit, he was feeling the start of his own panic himself. So two days after John left scouting and they stopped in Colter, Arthur went to look for him, just as Abigail was going to ask him for that. She opened her mouth but he stopped her by raising his hand.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go get him,” he promised her, going outside, away from the warm fire. Marston was going to regret losing himself in the storm and forcing Arthur outside in that weather.

Javier gave him a sawed-off shotgun in case he would get into trouble and said that the last time he heard, John was heading up the river. Arthur nodded and went outside, whistling loudly.

“Come here, boy!”

His new horse he got just recently ignored him. He wasn’t whistling at him anyway. Arthur smiled when a giant mass of fur ran from behind one of the buildings and stopped right in front of him.

“Good Polaris,” Arthur praised the bear, ruffling his big head that was at the height of Arthur’s chest. “Who’s the good bear?”

Polaris let out a small, grunting noise and stood on his hind legs, easily hovering over the outlaw and going for a hug that Arthur would be happy to return if it wasn’t so dangerous. He swiftly jumped to the side and Polaris landed on four legs again, following him. Arthur bent down to give him the hug he desperately needed, sinking his fingers in a long fur on the animal's neck and back.

“You’re a good bear,” Arthur answered his own question, his cheek pressed to Polaris’ fluffy head. He scratched behind his ear and let go, patting the bear on the head. “Wanna help me find John?”

Polaris nosed at his satchel, trying to put it inside. Arthur chuckled and shoved him away, as much as he could shove away a bear, and pulled out a slice of dried meat.

“Sit,” he said and Polaris sat down. “Paw.” Arthur smiled while connecting their hands together. “Good boy.” Polaris got his meat and ate in just a second. “I’m going to tell John you needed a little bribe to go look for him. Come on.”

Polaris followed, scaring Arthur’s new horse who still wasn’t used to the presence of a bear like the mounts of other gang members. Arthur needed a few minutes to calm the Tennessee Walker enough to mount him and rode off with Polaris running a few feet behind them. If someone could see them right now, they would think the bear was stalking Arthur. They couldn’t have been more wrong.

Polaris was a sweet little thing Arthur found not so long ago, in the same mountains they were in now, only before Blackwater. He was hunting one day or tried to, because he was so captivated by nature he was just sitting on a rock, sketching any animal or scenery he found liking.

Then he noticed him, the grizzly bear walking over three hundred feet away from him. Arthur pulled out his binoculars to see the animal better. He was rather small for his species, probably left his mother recently and now was living on his own. The bear was heading towards one of the trees where a nest of bees was. Of course, bears were known for their sweet tooth.

Arthur watched in amazement how the bear, despite his weight, climbed the tree to reach the nest. The bees started to attack right away, seemingly not doing any harm through the thick fur of the bear. Arthur was sure he was going to just saw him knock the nest down and feed on the honey, but then the bear started swiping his paw over its face, trying to get rid of the bees that were attacking where he was the most vulnerable. 

Suddenly, the bear fell down, his roar of distress heard by Arthur who continued watching. The bear started to run away, the bees followed and for a pretty long time too. That’s when Arthur realized those weren’t bees but hornets, which were much more nastier than bees.

They followed the bear for a while, Arthur saw through the binoculars how they finally gave up and the small swarm returned to the nest. The bear was now a little spot in the distance, even with binoculars to help Arthur see. He wasn’t moving, it looked like he collapsed. It would be so easy to kill him now and take the pelt, those of grizzly bears always were sold high.

Only instead of an opportunity for money, all Arthur saw was a helpless animal in need. He loved animals, he only killed for food, never for fun, he wouldn’t do anything wrong by killing the bear now, yet his conscience was screaming something different at him.

It was crazy but Arthur mounted Silver Dollar that Hosea let him borrow for the hunt since he still hadn’t replaced Boadicea, and rode towards the bear, avoiding the hornet’s nest from a safe distance.

Silver Dollar was becoming more agitated the closer they were getting to the bear that was still alive. He was breathing but it was clearly hard for him, making Arthur’s heart ache for the animal. Ignoring the only reasonable solution to this situation and against his better judgment, Arthur dismounted, slowly taking a few steps towards the bear.

The animal stirred and roared weakly at him, trying to scare him away. Arthur stumbled back in surprise, Silver Dollar ran without waiting for his temporary rider. The bear tried to stand up and for a few short seconds, Arthur was sure he was going to die there, he misunderstood the situation and the bear wasn’t as hurt as he thought.

But the bear collapsed back on the ground just when he put his front legs under himself. With a pained groan, he laid down again, panting and looking at Arthur with brown, scared eyes that reminded Arthur of the similar ones from a few years back when Dutch brought a scared little kid to the camp.

The wave of protectiveness swallowed him whole and without thinking, Arthur got closer again. The bear didn’t react, he was ready to die and it only saddened Arthur even more. With his heart racing in his chest, he kneeled next to the animal and gently put a hand on its head. The bear huffed and shifted a little, making Arthur jump back but he settled again shortly, still terrified, still in pain.

“It’s okay,” Arthur told it in a soothing voice, softly stroking the big head. “I won’t hurt you. Them hornets got you good, huh? Yeah. You’ll be okay, buddy, I swear.”

Arthur couldn’t promise that, hell, the bear didn’t even understand the words but hopefully he understood Arthur was trying to help. Careful with his movements, he reached to his satchel and pulled out a snake oil and his bandana. Not caring about it right now and how it will stink after, he coated it with the snake oil and gently started to sweep it over sting wounds on the bear’s muzzle.

He was so close to losing his hand, what he was doing was ridiculous, dangerous and just stupid. But he was doing it anyway because he couldn’t just walk away or mercy kill the animal. He probably should’ve done the latter, there was no telling if the bear would survive but Arthur wanted to try, ready to give the killing blow if needed but not yet.

The bear was calm when Arthur was tending to the wounds. He even closed his eyes and his breathing slowed down, not by much, but he wasn’t panting anymore. Arthur continued talking to him, promising that all would be good. He was sure the bear fell asleep by the time he finished. He used the whole bottle of snake oil to be sure the bear would be fine. It must’ve worked and soothed the pain at least.

Arthur felt better with the thought that he helped the bear, he didn’t feel guilty with leaving him alone. The bear was calm now but when he would get better, who knows what he would do, Arthur wasn’t going to risk it. He stroked his head one last time, sure that he wouldn’t have another opportunity like that. He also left the food he took for the hunt for himself and placed it next to the bear for him to eat when he would feel better. Only then Arthur walked away but he didn’t leave.

After finding Silver Dollar and calming him down, Arthur returned to his viewing point and watched the bear. Still laying down, the bear was an easy target for a pack of wolves or a cougar who would be happy to get rid of the competition. So Arthur kept the guard, completely forgetting about the hunt.

He breathed in relief when after a few hours the bear stood up, ate what Arthur left him and then ran away. Smiling, Arthur mounted Silver Dollar and returned to the camp. He only shared with John what happened on the hunt. The younger man laughed at him for letting a perfectly good bear run away instead of skinning him. Arthur didn’t care, he felt good knowing that he saved a life.

Next day he was still thinking about the bear and after trying to ignore it and failing, he borrowed another horse, this time Old Boy, and returned to the valley where he saw the bear yesterday. Arthur had no idea what he was expecting, bears could travel long distances, it was unlikely that the one from yesterday was still there. He wasn’t wrong, the valley was empty, save for a bunch of herbivores he scared away.

Using his binoculars, Arthur tried to find the bear among the trees and in the distance but to no avail. He felt stupid, but he was disappointed.

Since he was already there, he decided to hunt for something and bring back to the camp. He scared the game while looking for the bear so he had to locate something first but as if something was against him, after walking for an hour he still couldn’t find anything.

He tried one last time, he stopped in one place, left Old Boy to graze and observed the area with binoculars, still hoping he would find the bear somewhere. He didn’t, no bear. And no deer or an elk either, just some birds and one rabbit that wasn’t enough to feed the whole gang. It was better than nothing though, so he picked his rifle and aimed through the scope.

Arthur was just about to pull the trigger when Old Boy started stomping and neighing. Arthur looked at him worried and then the horse was off, galloping away from him. Then Arthur heard it, twigs and rustling of leaves under heavy footsteps. He slowly turned around and froze when he noticed a bear behind himself, slowly walking towards him.

Some Native once told him that the best way to survive a bear attack is to not move. So Arthur did just that, his heart up his throat and lungs burning because his breaths were so shallow it wasn’t enough for his body. But he was terrified to breathe deeper, not when the bear was this close and started sniffing him, a grunting pants escaping his huge mouth full of teeth.

Arthur thought he was done for when the bear raised his paw and scratched the satchel on his hip, clearly interested with it. Just like the day before, Arthur had some food with him, meat again and the bear wanted it. His claws were enormous, longer than Arthur’s fingers, they had no problem with just ripping the satchel from the straps.

Arthur held his breath, the bear lost interest in him and instead, nosed at the satchel till he opened it and got his mouth inside. Arthur still didn’t dare to move, he just stood there clenching fingers on the rifle and watching as the bear ate everything edible that was in the satchel before it left as calmly as it appeared.

Arthur’s legs gave up under him and he landed on his ass, taking deep breaths when he finally could breathe properly. He watched after the bear, he was far away and Arthur was pretty sure he was safe but he decided to stay here a little longer and calm himself.

Old Boy returned after an hour, sniffed him and munched on his hair to get him moving.

When Arthur finally returned to camp empty handed, he didn’t tell anyone, especially John, what happened. He didn’t want him to get worried.

Next time Arthur returned to the valley, it was with rabbit meat and canned pineapples. He put both food on the ground and sat a few feet away and waited. The bear returned, ate the food and left just like the last time, not even caring about Arthur, he only acknowledged the human by looking at him.

It went on for two weeks. The gang was staying in one place for the winter so Arthur had all the time in the world for visiting the bear, each day sitting closer and closer till finally, he fed him from his palm. Another few days later, he was able to pet the bear who turned out to be a male.

The bear clearly remembered Arthur, he knew he could trust him but he was still a wild animal so Arthur took his time gaining even more of the bear’s trust. Month after meeting him the first time, Arthur was comfortable wrestling with the bear, careful to not get crushed or torn to shreds by the claws accidentally. No matter how playful the bear was, he was still big enough to kill Arthur with one swap of his paw. 

Arthur liked visiting the bear, feeding him, playing with him. Maybe he missed his dog and horse so much he was ready to adopt the bear just to have a pet. It was unconventional and still very dangerous but he couldn’t stop. He was pretty sure the bear was too dependable on him anyway. He could clearly hunt, he was a big animal and he wasn’t looking that healthy thanks to beef jerky and canned fruits Arthur was bringing. But instead of patrolling his territory or falling asleep for the winter, the bear preferred to spend time with his savior.

Arthur never thought he would ever have a pet bear but he was loving this one. He was soft, adorable and caring, one time scaring off a coyote that was just walking nearby. Arthur loved walking with him, running away from him – he was always losing the race – wrestling or just sitting and petting it, keeping his fur clean.

After one day of playing with the bear, Arthur was surprised by the evening. He decided to stay instead of going back to camp, hoping that no one would be too worried.

The bear laid on his belly snoring softly, with Arthur resting against his side and watching the stars, one in particular, the north star. Hosea taught him about constellations once, Arthur could find and name most of them, along with some single stars, including the brightest one that was helping him find his way home on more occasions than he could count.

Polaris, the brightest star of Ursa Minor.

Arthur moved his gaze from the bright sky and looked at his bear.

Funny, his bear. He really thought of him. And the bear clearly thought so too because he tried to follow Arthur a couple of times before.

He reached his hand towards the big head and stroked his big head. The bear yawned, he didn’t even wake up, feeling safe in Arthur’s presence.

“I’m gonna call you Polaris,” he decided with a smile. He covered his eyes with the hat and pulled a blanket to his neck. Polaris was hot like a furnace but it was still winter in the mountains and Arthur wasn’t planning on getting pneumonia.

It pained Arthur to leave him the next morning, he really loved that bear and wanted him where he could be safe. Every time he was leaving him, Arthur was worried the bear would get into a fight with another, full grown bear and that would be it, the end of an unusual friendship. But he couldn’t just bring him to camp. Dutch wouldn’t let him keep Polaris.

Still, Arthur tried.

Two days later, after asking Mary-Beth for a favor to make him a big collar, which caused everyone to wonder what he needed it for, Arthur left for the nearest town and visited a blacksmith who made him a plate for it with the name ‘Polaris’ engraved on it.

The Next day, he left for a few hours and when he returned, he was with his dear bear, now collared. Everyone freaked out, Davey even wanted to shoot him, not understanding that the bear was harmless, even towards humans he has never seen before. He got used to Arthur so much he was okay with other humans as well.

It took a whole day of showing that Polaris was just a big softy to convince Dutch there was nothing to fear. He started with telling the whole story, then went to show Polaris was no threat to anyone. When he hugged the bear and even put his hand into his snout while everyone watched, one of the girls screamed in horror, Susan grabbed her gun and others were telling him to get his hand out of that thing's jaws.

Arthur only snorted and hugged Polaris tighter. The bear growled happily and eventually maneuvered his body in a way that allowed him to hug Arthur back, almost crushing him in his arms. Arthur laughed breathlessly and looked at a pale John who didn’t know if he should pull out his gun or try to tug Arthur out of the bear embrace.

Even after that show of trust Arthur had in his bear, others were still wary of Polaris who was now staying permanently in the camp. By next month everyone was used to his presence. The Girls liked to brush his fur and Pearson liked to give him some scraps from dinner behind Arthur’s back. He tried to train the bear and Pearson was ruining it.

Hosea liked sketching Polaris, Arthur was often finding him sitting next to a sleeping bear and drawing him. It warmed Arthur’s heart every time.

For Jack, Polaris was just another cute animal he could play with. Abigail was against her son getting close to the bear but Arthur convinced her it was fine. It did help that he took the boy riding on the Polaris when Abigail was busy with something one day. She screamed at him for an hour after but Jack was happy that he had the occasion to sit on a bear and that was all that mattered.

“For once she’s screaming at you, not me,” John chuckled at him after Abigail left, still furious.

“She’ll get over it, she’s always screaming at something,” Arthur noticed, making John laugh again.

The change of John’s relationship with Polaris was the most heartwarming. After he stopped being terrified, he pretty much adopted the bear just like Arthur. He often play-fought with him or just rested against him, either during smoking or eating. He liked to sneak upon Polaris and jump at him unexpectedly like a little kid. He once ended with some bruised ribs when Polaris decided he was too tired to fight and just collapsed onto his side with John still clinging to it.

Arthur laughed at him for the next week.

With new members joining while the gang was in the Grizzlies, it came to explaining why there was a bear in the camp. Some mean son of a bitch named Micah was ready to shoot Polaris when he only saw him. That was fine, because Polaris wanted to kill him too, apparently not liking the man. He disliked him even more when Micah touched Arthur a little too harshly, nothing big, just two men testing the waters, trying to figure out who was the alpha male, happened all the time with every new member.

But the light shove was enough for Polaris to see Micah as a threat to his friend and he ran at full speed at Micah, ready to bite his head off. Arthur called him off just in time and Micah screamed to keep that thing away from him. It was easy to accomplish, Polaris didn’t want anything to do with him anyway.

When Dutch brought Charles to the gang, the young man just stared at the bear who was laying in the middle of the camp and snored.

“Why do you have a bear in your camp?” he asked, stopping in his tracks to not get any closer.

“Arthur found him,” Dutch simply answered.

Charles nodded, uncertain and then spent the next few terrified moments with Polaris sniffing him when the bear woke up and noticed a new person. John saved him eventually by jumping on Polaris back like always and distracting him with a fight.

With a smile, Arthur watched the younger man laugh while trying to put a big bear to the ground, while Charles just looked unsure.

“You sure it’s safe?” he asked Arthur.

“Sure, I have him under control,” Arthur assured the man and walked away to help John. Even the two of them weren’t strong enough to push Polaris to the ground.

Charles still wasn’t convinced by the end of the day, especially after Polaris tried to eat Micah again.

Next was Lenny, a nice kid who was running from the law. Dutch being Dutch, couldn’t just turn his eye blind to an orphan in need and took him in. Lenny stood at the edge of the camp for a minute, confused by the bear's presence. The expression was still on his face for the next couple of days, especially when he was watching Arthur train Polaris.

With a palm full of treats, he was showing one to the bear and then tapping his face and saying ‘kiss’ sweetly, like talking to a dog. Only this dog was a bear with almost four inches of claws that were very close to Arthur’s face every time the bear slapped him gently instead of kissing. Once he even toppled the man over with his strength. Lenny was sure then Arthur just died but that lunatic only laughed and got back to training like nothing happened.

He had claw scratch marks on his face for the next week.

Winter came to an end, the gang stopped near Blackwater, Polaris following, helping carry some of the supplies. He was growing more, confirming that he wasn’t fully grown when Arthur found him. A bear was bringing attention to them during traveling but with a caravan this big, it was bound to happen anyway and Polaris was scaring away pretty much everything and everyone, so it was good to have him with them instead of Arthur taking him from the road and traveling alone.

They stayed in Blackwater for a while, getting ready for two big scores. Not only one ended with their escape and some of the gang members being separated or hurt, Arthur and Hosea also lost their chance for some big money. They packed and ran back to the Grizzlies, still covered in snow even in May.

That’s how they ended in an old mining village and John lost himself in a snowstorm. Arthur followed Javier’s instructions and rode up the river till he found a fresh campsite. Arthur doubted anyone else but them and O’Driscolls were there right now, so it must’ve been John who camped there. 

He tracked the man all the way to the dangerous looking gorge, Polaris now on the lead, sniffing the air. He was a better tracker than Arthur and with ease, he found a horse John grabbed in a hurry when he and the boys were running from the ferry.

“You know where this idiot went, boy?” Arthur asked the bear who was currently interested in eating the horse’s carcass. Staying here was hard for him too, they barely had the meat to feed themselves, not to mention a grizzly bear. So Arthur let him eat and went alone, knowing he couldn’t wait if he didn’t want to find John frozen under snow. Polaris would find him.

After giving one shot into the air with his revolver, Arthur heard John’s yell in response. He followed John’s cries of help till he found him sitting on rocky shelves right next to the seemingly endless pit. Before Arthur dragged him up, Polaris joined them, his mouth still red from the blood.

“He ate your horse,” Arthur informed John who just laughed, or rather let out an amused wheeze. He was hurt pretty badly, wolves attacked him, the gun wound reopened, he was freezing and most likely had pneumonia. Arthur needed to get him warm, fast.

“That’s okay, I’m sure she didn’t mind anymore,” John assured and let Arthur carry him on his arm a little till they reached Arthur’s mount. “Nice horse.”

“Thanks.” Arthur put John on the ground and that was the moment the wolves decided to show up. “Your friends are back.”

“Some friends,” John hissed, touching his shredded cheek. Arthur patted his hand away and scolded him for touching it. “Polaris, sing.”

Polaris stood on his hind legs and roared, completely playful but it was enough to scare the wolves away. They probably wouldn’t attack anyway, seeing a bear was intimidating enough but who knows what desperate wolves were capable of.

“I’m freezing,” John complained. He was wrapped tightly in his jacket but after so many hours without any fire to warm him, even Arthur’s much warmer coat wouldn’t help the boy right now. Arthur was tempted to give it to him anyway.

“Wanna ride on Polaris?” Arthur suggested, already going for a blanket and some rope.

“Yeah,” John answered weakly.

With Arthur’s help, he climbed the bear and settled on his blanketed back. Polaris wasn’t bothered by the additional weight, John was weighing nothing to him. Arthur tied the rope around John and the bear to make sure he wouldn’t fall even after losing consciousness and then they went back, riding side by side. It sure was an unusual sight to witness.

“You okay?” Arthur was looking at John from time to time. He looked like he was going to pass out, which would be bad before getting to safety and warmth.

“I am now,” John answered, his teeth clattering with every word. He carefully lowered his body and laid down on Polaris, hugging his neck. “He’s warm.”

Arthur allowed himself to chuckle. John should be safe now and he was glad he was fast enough to find him and not his dead body.

They returned to the camp in an hour, when the evening was setting. The Reverend took care of John right away, with the boys' help he placed him inside one of the buildings. Arthur wanted to follow but he would only be disturbing their work so he retreated to another building, smoked, chatted with Bill and Lenny and only visited John later.

The Reverend left, John was laying alone. Arthur entered, closing the door behind himself to keep the cold out. John’s face was covered with bandages to keep his new stitches clean. He was trembling with a fever and coughed from time to time but he was alive, his skin wasn’t bluish anymore. He was going to be fine.

“Arthur?”

Arthur turned to the younger man. He was sure he was asleep.

“Yeah?”

Only one of John’s eyes was uncovered. It wasn’t clear like usual, the Reverend gave him something for the pain and it was making him dozy but still awake enough to talk.

“Thanks’ for finding me,” John said before another coughing fit caught him. Arthur held him still, gently pressing his chest to the bed so he wouldn’t move too much and strain his other wounds. When the coughing passed, John looked at Arthur again. “I thought I was going to die.”

Arthur smiled at him and took John’s hand in his, squeezing it lightly. John sent him a pained smile. He couldn’t really move his face with stitches covering part of it but he tried anyway until Arthur scowled at him for it.

“Stupid boy, you’ll pull out your stitches,” he scolded him, still holding his hand. “And of course I found you, you moron. I wouldn’t leave you.”

John smiled again, this time more careful.

“Thanks,” he said again, turning his head to look at the roof.

Arthur nodded. “Of course,” he murmured and moved his chair closer, wincing when it made a loud scraping noise on the floor. John winced too and looked at him indignant. “Do you need anything?”

“More blankets,” John chattered, his other hand moving under the blanket to pull it higher. “The Reverend undressed me to my union suit and it isn’t exactly the warmest garment.”

Arthur chuckled. “No it isn’t.” He looked around, the fire was already going and there were no more blankets. They left most of them in Blackwater, taking more needed possessions. They didn’t know then they would go back in the mountains. Dutch brought some from the Adler’s Ranch before it burned but Arthur was pretty sure John was already covered with two of them. Still, it wasn’t enough to keep him warm, he was shaking like a leaf and watching Arthur helplessly, waiting for help. 

He could go to his own room and take the sheets from there or from any other room really. Apart from Jack and the girls, others didn’t really need warmth as much as John right now. But then another idea popped into his head.

“I got what you need,” he said and rushed outside. Finding Polaris wasn’t hard, he was in Pearson’s little kitchen, warming himself by the fire while the man cooked and Uncle slept on the benches. Arthur whistled quietly at the bear and he followed, entering the building with him.

John, that idiot, smiled again despite the pain when he saw Polaris, who came closer right away, happy to see a familiar face again.

“Hey, boy.” John raised his hand weakly and scratched the bear behind the ear. “Thanks for the ride earlier, you’re a good boy. Give me a kiss.”

Polaris moved his head closer and bumped his big nose into John’s face, causing him to laugh happily. Arthur watched the bear kiss the younger man till Polaris suddenly sneezed, almost hitting John when the sneeze shook his whole head. Polaris retreated, his nose moving in every direction, irritated by some smell. Arthur walked around him and looked at John whose face was covered with bear’s snots. 

“I don’t think it was a good idea to make him kiss you when your face is smeared with salves,” Arthur noticed, amused, barely keeping himself from laughing at the sight of John’s disgusted face.

“Yeah, it wasn’t.” John agreed. Arthur sat next to him again, on the edge of the bed and cleaned the snots from his face with his neckerchief. “Why did you bring him?”

“Furnace,” Arthur simply explained and picked one blanket from John.

“Hey,” the younger man protested but Arthur ignored him and laid the blanket on the floor in front of the fireplace. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you warm.”

“I don’t feel warm right now,” John noticed, shivering even more now that one of his blankets was gone.

Arthur moved quickly. He took Polaris by the collar and brought him closer to the fire. “Down, boy,” he said and the bear laid on his back on the blanket. “Stay.”

Arthur returned to John and gently helped him stand up. His leg was hurt so the younger man limped a little, every step causing him a lot of pain, even during this short walk to the blanket. Arthur was feeling guilty for causing him pain nonetheless but hopefully it would be worth it. He placed John on the ground next to Polaris, the younger man almost hurting his teeth with how much he was gritting them. He almost cried with relief when he was finally laying flat on the ground, wrapped in the blanket and warmed by the fire from one side.

“Moving was easier on the cold,” he panted, watching concerned Arthur.

“Because you were minutes away from losing your limbs,” Arthur noticed and kneeled behind comfortably laying Polaris. “Polaris, hug. No, not me!”

John chuckled. “Polaris, hug,” he said himself this time and the bear turned to him, opening his arms to hug John. John hissed when strong limbs crushed him a little.

“Easy, boy, you don’t want to hurt Johnny now,” Arthur said to the bear, making sure the hug wasn’t too strong. “You alive?”

John shifted in the bear’s hug, held firmly but gently against his soft and warm belly that was giving as much heat as the fire, felt even through the blanket. He found the comfortable position eventually, with his head resting on a furry arm and sighed, finally feeling warm enough. He was still shaking but much less and with more color returning to his face.

“Yeah, I’m alive,” he replied finally and sighed one more time, getting sleepy again, a warm puff of air hitting the back of his head with every breath of the bear. “Thanks, Arthur.”

“You’re welcome,” he mumbled back with a cigarette in his mouth. He sat on an opposite side of Polaris and rested against his back. “I’m gonna stay and make sure you won’t be crushed.”

“And here I thought you were just worried of me dying from the cold or pneumonia,” John teased, his voice quiet with sleep and exhaustion.

“That too,” Arthur admitted, pretty sure that John smiled again when he heard him hiss. “Go to sleep, John.”

“I was going to do that anyway but you just had to come and interrupt me,” the younger man complained. Polaris huffed and growled quietly. “Shut up,” John said to the bear who licked his hair in response.

Arthur let out a short laugh and relaxed, hearing to soft snores of Polaris and a wheezing, but deep breaths of John. He fell asleep soon too, feeling warm both on the outside and inside.


End file.
